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Technical Modernization Plan for 2013-2022

Polish Armed Forces will spend 91,5 bln PLN for new equipment and armament till 2022. On 17 September 2013 Polish government adopted a plan related to this subject, prepared by Ministry of National Defence. bThanks to the document the money that will not be spent on modernizing Polish army in particular fiscal year will not be lost but it will be available in the following year.

"Today Council of Ministers established long-term program "Priority tasks of technical modernization of the Armed Forces of Republic of Poland under operational programs." The bill confirms, at the governmental level, the particular priorities of armed forces modernization, included in 14 operational programs. The programs will be executed till 2022" - Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak wrote on Twitter.

For the last few years Ministry of National Defence, which thanks to the Law on the reform and technical modernization of Polish Armed Forces has the guarantee that every year 1,95% of GDP is allocated for the needs of PAF, has to give back the money which has not been spent on purchasing equipment and armament.

It happens so because the regulations oblige every ministry including MOD to reset its budget at the end of the year and to give back the money not spent on assets, among other things on purchasing armament, to the state's budget - Navy Capt. Janusz Walczak, Director of Public Information Department of MOD explains.

Ministry of National Defence, which prepared the long-term "Program of development of Polish Armed Forces in years 2013-2022" (this document comprises the schedule of purchase of equipment and armament, among other things helicopters, vessels for Polish Navy, air and missile defence systems, unmanned systems etc.) for a long time has been making efforts to gain permission for managing its budget in a more elastic way.

On 12 September 2013 the Council of Ministers Committee approved the planks of the program "Priority tasks of technical modernization of the Armed Forces of Republic of Poland under operational programs", which not only determines the key operational (modernization) programs for our Armed Forces but also specifies their budget task till 2022. On 17 September the government approved that document.

For the Ministry of National Defence and Polish Armed Forces putting the technical modernization in the shape of a governmental program has two advantages. Firstly, it will be possible to move the financial means from a particular modernization program, which will not be spent in a particular fiscal year, to consecutive years. Secondly, according to the bill on public finances that is currently in force, putting the operational programs in the frames of the governmental program guarantees that money allocated to it will not be spent on something else (article 173). As means from the state budget assigned for financing the long-term programs cannot be, with condition of section 2, used for other purposes.

"The priority tasks of technical modernization of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland within operational programs" will be included in the project of Budgetary Bill for 2014.

Among the priorities defined by the President Bronislaw Komorowski and Prime Minister Donald Tusk in November 2011, written in "Technical Modernization Plan for 2013-2022" the following key operational programs are listed:

1. Air defence system - among other things the following items will be procured under this program:

air defence medium-range missile systems WISLA;

air defence short-range missile systems NAREW;

self-propelled air defence missile systems POPRAD;

mobile air defence missile system GROM/PIORUN;

air defence short-range artillery-missile systems PILICA;

mobile three-coordinates radio stations SOLA/BYSTRA.

2. Helicopters - among other things the following items will be procured under the program:

multipurpose-transport helicopters;

search and rescue (SAR) helicopters;

anti-submarine helicopters;

attack helicopters;

VIP-transport helicopters.

3. C4ISR - Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems - among other things the following will be procured under the program: